Acer, Asustek To Launch New Chromebooks In 2H13

Digitimes’ Aaron Lee and Joseph Tsai report that Acer and Asustek Computer are optimistic about the long-term prospects of Chromebooks and plan to release new models in the second half of 2013, during which Google is expected to aggressively promote the platform it has developed, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Le and Tsai note that Acer used to ship 150,000-200,000 units of its existing US$199 11.6-inch Chromebook, but volume dropped to only 20,000-30,000 units in January 2013, prompting the vendor to halt related shipment plans for the second half of 2013, according to insider sources.

However, they say Acer has recently resumed its Chromebook project and will release a new 11.6-inch model in July, targeting students, while Asustek, which originally had no plans to join the Chromebook competition, also reportedly will launch a branded Chromebook in the second half. They say Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard (HP) are also expected to release Chromebooks in the near future, citing the sources.